The third soundtrack for the You're Under Arrest television show doesn't follow the norm for anime soundtracks. Any show that is on air long enough to warrant this many soundtracks usually has most of the cool stuff on the first couple albums, and the mediocre remains get bumped to the final albums. In the case of this third album, though, there is a lot of cool stuff on this album. Might this album even perhaps be the best of the three?

The album at first glance appears to contain songs from the back half of the show's first season. In some cases this turns out to be true, but it isn't that clear cut. The album does open with Love Somebody, which is the opening theme to the last half of the season. The song is alright, but not my favorite. My opinion from my review of the theme song collection still stands: this song gets the job done, but isn't anything to get excited about. After that, though, things get interesting.

Tracks two through eight contain strong similarities, featuring saxophone, horns, electric bass, wailing electric guitar, and a choir. Yes, that's right: a choir. Well, maybe more like a vocal ensemble, because it doesn't sound like there are many singers. Still, this is quite unusual, as one wasn't used on the previous two albums. A few other instruments pop up occasionally, but the similarities in the instrumentation means that putting these seven tracks back-to-back really lets the songs flow from one into another, which makes for a very nice listening experience. I think track two, Front Spoiler, is my favorite of this bunch, though that could just be because the effect of the aggressive instrumentation has its maximum impact the first time you hear it.

After that run is through there are a few mixed tracks that don't have any obvious theme to them, and are more like the random stuff typical to later soundtrack albums. Track 9, Tandem Seat, sounds like a leftover from an earlier album, as it matches the general sound of the show perfectly. The next track, Foot Rest, is an introspective number with solo violin and accompanying piano. It is a nice piece, but a little short. Vanity Mirror is a jazz quartet piece, and a good one, at that, if you like slower, piano-driven jazz. The only common thread with these songs is that they have nothing to do with each other.

From there we move to the first regular vocal song on the album, I'll Come to See You by Yuusuke Nakamura. I guess you could put this song in the "adult contemporary" category, but I'm going to put it in the "too long and I don't care for it" category and move on. A pensive keyboard piece follows, and then we reach If it Makes You Happy, a nice, straightforward vocal number that I enjoy quite a bit for no obvious reason. The arrangement is actually fairly simple, and I can see how some people might find it boring, but that simplicity works for me. The singer, NAHO, definitely has the right voice for this piece. So far, so good.

Unfortunately, at this point the album commits its first serious sin. The next track, Gyroscope, is easily the worst track on any of the albums in this series. It sounds like a really bad attempt at late '80s hip-hop, when all you have is a keytar and a beat machine. It is heinous. Let us never speak of it again.

Moving into the last few tracks, the album thankfully swings upwards again in quality. Wheel Stroke is a keyboard number that should be pretty cheesy, but the composition is so good (and it compares so favorably to what has just come before) that I can't help but like it, even when the saxophone comes in and jars a little too much against the keyboard work. But right after a good track, the next track threatens to derail things again, with (of all things) ragtime piano. I kid you not. It is well done, but ragtime? The curse of the final album finally comes home to roost; this thing had to go somewhere, and it wasn't slotted into any of the earlier albums, so here it is. It is pretty good for what it is, but it just doesn't fit. Ah, well.

Track 18, Looking Up at the Sky, is the second ending theme to the TV show, and is a fantastic piece of music. I'm sure part of it is that I just like the sound of the singer's voice, but I have really dug this song ever since I first heard it. The lyrics are actually rather melancholy, which might seem to be out of place in a generally happy show like You're Under Arrest, but I think it helps balance things out a bit. Following this is the last song on the album, Thank You, sung by the two title characters, Miyuki and Natsumi. It is very much in the standard vein for character pieces in this show, with a heavy use of keyboards and happy, positive lyrics. It is pretty average overall, but it does make a good endpoint to the album.

Actually, the appearance of the two lead voice actresses in the final song is an interesting counterpoint to the rest of the album. Where the first two soundtrack albums for the show had a number of character songs interspersed throughout the album, this third soundtrack album, with the exception of the final song, is completely lacking in any character-specific songs. On the first album, every first tier character had a song, and some second tier characters had songs, as well. The second album had more character songs, including that spot on version of Thank You, Love by Ken and Miyuki. None of that is present here. That lack, along with the large number of more aggressive songs with vocal ensembles, gives this album a significantly different feel from the earlier albums. In the end, I think that is a good thing. There was really no need for another album like the first two, and holding back those first few tracks to this album helps make it a unique listening experience.

The first two You're Under Arrest soundtracks are pretty mandatory pick-ups for serious fans of the show, but I can't say that about this album. That being noted, in some ways this album is better than the two that came before. It has more energetic tracks, and has a couple real gems (like that second ending theme). The lack of character songs, however, makes it feel like a solid, but unnecessary, purchase decision. This is almost the You're Under Arrest soundtrack album for people who don't like You're Under Arrest. My final verdict is that this is a cool album, but by no means a critical pickup for fans of the show.